. NMT05-T0691
Volume V · Page 691
| [trans…] ports necessary were
requisitioned from the Wehrmacht commandant, and Brunner, all he had to do was
mention how many cars he needed and what time he needed them. Q. Were any of the Jewish workers retained at the request of Dr. Merkel or the military administration? A. Yes, for railroad construction work and military administration. After this construction was completed, the Jews were returned. Just like the rest, they were transported to Auschwitz and these works were carried out in the frame of the Organization Todt. Q. What was the number of Jewish workers retained for the Organization Todt? A. Three to four thousand. Q. Was there any illness among the Jews that were concentrated for transport? A. On the whole in this concentration camp there were no special cases of illness but in some of the quarters of the city which were inhabited by Jews, a certain kind of typhus and other infectious contagious diseases, especially tuberculosis of the lungs. Q. What, if any, communication did you have with Eichmann concerning this typhus? A. I told Eichmann by telephone after the wire regarding the transportation of all Jews, and told him about these cases of typhus. He did not respond to this and ordered the immediate beginning of this transportation of the Jews. Q. Altogether, how many Jews were collected and shipped from Greece ? A. There were more than 50,000 Jews. I believe that 54,000 Jews were transported from Salonika and Macedonia. Q. What was the basis for your figure? A. I, myself, saw a comprehensive report of Brunner's to Eichmann, which was drawn up after these Jews had been transported. Brunner left Salonika at the end of May 1943. From the beginning of April until May, I was not at Salonika and Brunner carried out this action alone. Q. How many transports were used for shipping Jews from Salonika? A. From 20 to 25 cars, transport trains. Q. And how many were shipped in each transport? A. There were at least 2,000, and in some cases two and half thousand in each. Q. What type of railway equipment was used for those shipments? A. Closed freight cars. But the evacuees received food to last, |
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